Working in the primary school

One of our facilitators, Benson, building the vibe.

This week marked the beginning of our work with schools. We are focusing on primary schools, which is the American equivalent of elementary/middle school. We are also focusing on the higher grades of primary school so the students are somewhere between the ages of 9 and 12. The first school we partnered with is located in Akwang sub-county. The school serves as the main school for two villages, one of which we are simultaneously administering educational programs at. We hope to address both the children and the adults so a consistent message is heard throughout the community. The idea is to spend the mornings at the school and the afternoons in the community.

The students are packed in like sardines. Notice, most of them do not have shoes.

The school was very welcoming and excited to have us. They managed to corral the students from P4-P6 into one room, even though we requested splitting them into two groups. There were more than 100 students, though they were extremely attentive and easy to manage. Our first program was about diarrhea and our facilitator, Charles, was excellent.

Our main facilitator Charles, doing his thing.

The program lasted about an hour and a half and afterwards I felt refreshed. These children are so poor and come from such challenging backgrounds that at first view they appear almost pathetic. Torn school clothes, no shoes; one girl even started crying when we started our pre-questionnaire because she didn't have a pen. And I've seen the villages where these kids come from; they are pretty much the poorest and least developed villages I have ever seen in my life. The teachers later complained that many of the children suffer from mental disorders and stunted growth due to malnutrition and other ailments, making it very difficult for them to teach. They said this forces them to focus on a few of the brighter students because the rest are "hopeless." That being said, when the programs start, you wouldn't be able to distinguish these kids from any other school kids in an American classroom. They are enthusiastic, ask questions, participate and show the youthful enthusiasm that most adults have long abandoned.

Although I'd like to say that I was leading the discussion, I was merely holding the visual aid for Charles.